Allies of Ice
by articwolfgirl347
Summary: After Loki flees the Chitauri, he arrives on what should be a desolate mountain top. Instead he finds a remarkably crafted ice palace, and a peculiar girl inside. With Loki's help, Elsa can conquer her powers, but can she reclaim her kingdom? With Elsa's help, can Loki find a power strong enough to overcome hate? Eventual Elsa/Loki Rated T just in case of violence.
1. The Alliance

Loki dropped face first into snow, and shot to his feet. He whirled, eyes darting around the sky to see if he'd been followed. Finding his portal closed, and himself out of the Chitauri's reach, his knees gave way and Loki hit the snow once more.

His eyes flickered open sometime later. He was in an extravagant room made entirely from ice, geometric designs carved out of the ceiling. If he had landed in Jotunheim, he would massacre the demons on his way out.

Loki rose to a sitting position and cringed as his stomach contracted around his beaten organs. A flash of a spiked ball slamming into his gut flew through his mind, and he swallowed against the urge to throw up. Loki rested an elbow on his knee and looked up, towards the balcony.

A girl with light blond hair stood at the balcony, facing away from him. She wore her hair in a messy french braid, and an icy blue dress. Her neck was a light cream color. She was no frost giant. Her hands gripped the balcony railing, her knuckles tense.

"Aren't you in the habit of greeting your guests, or were you going to get me killed by your neglect?" Loki asked. Unwise as it might be to antagonize his savior, he couldn't resist. And really, who was expecting the God of Mischief to show restraint? It wasn't in his nature.

She turned to face him, and stepped inside from the balcony. "I would have done you more harm than good. Who are you, and who sent you here?"

Loki leaned forward. "Do I threaten you?" Oh, these games were fun. He hadn't enjoyed himself this much since before Thor had returned to Asgard. Watching Thor's friends kneel before him was perhaps equal to this moment.

"You're free to leave. Get out of my castle."

"No, I don't think so." Loki stood and took a step forward.

"Just go!" She slammed her hands forward at him, and a wave of ice struck towards him.

He held his hands up, and the ice shards stopped and shattered against the floor. She stared at the shattered pieces, and then looked back up at him.

"How did you do that?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Now that," Loki said, "was the most interesting thing I've seen in quite some time." The mortal could use sorcery? Few could, and most of those were petty humans who'd made a deal with the more powerful races of the nine realms. Frost giants, however, were unable to transfer their powers to other beings. The bifrost was gone, thanks to a certain blond moron, so only extremely talented sorcerers could move freely. There were only about eight who could have done so, and none of them had any good reason to leave their home realms. None of them preferred ice as their first element, and usually marked their mortals in some fashion. He smiled and started to stalk around the room, keeping his eyes on her the whole time.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Won't you introduce yourself first? It's only polite," he said, eyebrows raised in mock sincerity.

"You're in my-" she broke off. He annoyed her, but she had been raised to be queen. She shouldn't let it bother her. "I'm Elsa," she said instead.

"I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"How did you stop me?"

Loki smirked. "Trade secret."

Elsa growled and slammed a hand towards him. He waved a hand and the snow fell to the side. She glared and flung another hand towards him, and ice flung at him once more. He tilted his hand down slightly, and it collapsed. Elsa swept her hand into a half circle and an ice spear materialized in her hand. She grabbed it in both hands and with a battle cry, she sprang at Loki with it.

He pushed the spear to the side and kicked her in the stomach, sending her sprawling across the floor. "You are a child! I am a god, you foolish mortal."

"A-a god?" she asked.

Loki turned away and started for the door. Now that he'd rested, he could manage on his own. He'd bide his time and kill Odin with his own two hands. Then he'd destroy the Chitauri for thinking they could control him. He slipped around the corner and headed for the stairs.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Elsa rushed out and started down, her hand sliding along the railing. "Wait! Teach me, please! I'll give you anything."

"You can't give me anything I want." The words slipped out, bitter and cold like the unforgiving climate. He wanted Odin dead, he wanted Frigga's acceptance, Thor's recognition, the throne, everything. He was greed incarnate. The God of Mischief had a better ring to it, than God of Greed.

"I'll help you. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it," Elsa said. If he could help her, if she could be normal... she'd do anything. She could maybe, finally, build a snowman with Anna without freezing her to death. Anna... She could build a snowman with her, if Anna was alive. If only he had come a few days sooner. Please, be alive, Anna.

Loki paused. She had talent, truly. He could figure out where he was, and formulate a plan. It would keep him from Thor-like rashness. And he was wanted here. "Elsa, is it? Perhaps we could arrange something, for a few days."

She gave a deep sigh. "Uh, yeah. I mean, I'll make a room for you." She made a chair out of ice for him to sit. "I'll be back shortly. Don't go anywhere."

"And miss out on the fun? Never."

Elsa snorted, and left to make a room in the same fashion as hers. As she raised her hands, she smiled. God or mortal, he would live up to his promise. When she returned, she found him inspecting the detail on the stair rails. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"Perfect," he said. "Although I am compelled to ask if you wish to starve me to death. I assure you, I would outlast a mortal every time."

Elsa pulled a face. He had a funny way of asking for food. She walked over to the door and opened it. "Marshmallow?" she asked. Her giant ice guard turned to face her. "Go get us some more food, please. Anything canned is good." He started off into the snow, and she shut the door.

To Loki, she said, "It's being taken care of. In the main time, why don't we get started?"

Loki laughed. "Forward, aren't we? You would have me teach you while I languish in hunger?"

"You don't look like you're languishing to me."

"Question: where does your giant get food from?" Loki asked. "Do you let it plunder the town at its will?"

"He doesn't plunder! He only takes what I need. It's not like I had time to pack before I left," she said.

"Then you haven't been here long?"

"No." She gave him a pointed look. "Weren't you going to help me, or are you some sort of beggar?"

"By all means, let us start. What would you like to learn?" Loki asked.

"How do I control it?" She couldn't keep a tremor out of her voice. She had to know. One small question, but it took everything she had to ask it. She needed this.

"You seem to have a pretty good grip on it to me," he said.

"I don't. Any time I take my gloves off, anytime I feel emotion, they just sort of- sort of explode out of me. I can use them on purpose, now, but I don't know how to stop them. I don't know how to be normal." She looked away.

It struck a chord in Loki. For a second, he was back in Asgard, wondering why he didn't want to kill things the way Thor did, why he couldn't make friends the way Thor did, why he couldn't be normal. No, this was something different entirely. He left the thought behind. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"I've always had these powers. A long time ago, I accidentally hurt my sister. She was healed, but... lost the memories of my power. I've lived my whole life hiding this power, trying to learn how to stop it, but I just don't know how. A few days ago, I struck out at my sister, and everyone saw. I had to run away. She... she came to visit me two days ago, and I attacked her." Elsa squeezed her hands into fists, and choked back a sob. "I don't even know if she's still alive."

Loki could remember a similar incident. As a child he'd struck Thor and he'd fallen into a coma. After eating one of Idun's apples, Thor had recovered and almost immediately sought revenge in a sparring match. Loki had struck him again with magic, and merely stunned him. After that, Loki learned control. Not that it did anyone much good. The way Loki wielded it in the name of mischief had probably caused more damage over the years than accidents ever would have.

"Well, there's your problem," he said. "What's the use of a power if you never have any fun with it?"

"I'm having fun with it. I just can't when people are around."

"You're a closet addict," Loki grinned. Elsa made a noise of protest. "Oh, yes you are. You've got to use your powers, or they're going to rebel against you."

"Rebel against me?" she asked.

"Magic was made to be freed, only those with freedom can wield it. Poor magic, locked inside a host unwilling to use it. No wonder it exploded. That's unhealthy."

"Hey!"

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go for a walk. We should get back before the food gets here," he said.

"I can't endanger people like that! I have a duty to them."

"Oh, I'll stop you from killing them, if I must. You are such a kill joy. You don't happen to be related to muscled, blond idiots, do you?" He'd had enough of that to last him another century.

"No."

Loki rubbed his hands together. "Splendid."

They walked down to a wooden house with a sauna off to the side, and a stable in back. Loki grinned. "Ready to let loose?"

Elsa frowned. "No. I mean, what have they ever done to me?"

Loki rolled his eyes. "Assume everyone has done something terrible, because they have. Besides, you're not here to kill them, you're here to give them a sense of humor." He opened the door to the cabin.

A large, bearded man sat behind the counter. "Hello. What can I do for you?"

"No, it's what I can do for you." Loki rubbed his hands together and blew on them. Suddenly, rats and mice flew out of nowhere and scurried around the cabin. The man behind the counter shrieked like a girl and jumped on top of the counter. Loki chuckled, and then grabbed his stomach as it twinged in pain. "Your turn."

Elsa turned and saw the window into the sauna. The idea hit her. She turned to the sauna and raised a hand. It stopped steaming and froze over. The people inside screeched and scrambled to get out of the iced water. She snorted in amusement. "Imagine, bathing in a sauna in this cold weather."

"Now you're catching on," Loki said. They left the cabin. "It's not that magic makes us cruel, it just makes it impossible to live inside of the normal boundaries that everyone else lives by. We have to be creative and spontaneous with our magic, or it will destroy us." Not that anyone besides himself had ever understood that principle. But Elsa was nodding in agreement.

"Makes sense."

"Now, you stood no more than five feet away from that man on the counter. Did you hurt him in any way?"

"No." She smiled. She hadn't hurt him. And while she couldn't base all of her future interactions with people because of that one event, it certainly helped.

"Because you were too busy thinking about how to use it in a way that was fun. You were planning on expressing your magic, and it responded to that. If you continue to do so, you'll never have any magic problems ever again."

Elsa's eyes widened. That was the secret? She tackled Loki in a hug. Loki was unprepared for it, so they toppled over onto the snow. Elsa squeezed her arms against him. "You're incredible! I can never thank you enough. I can't believe it!" Tears pricked at her eyes at the thought of never having to be afraid for anyone ever again.

Loki had never been in more of an uncomfortable situation- wait, take that back. He had, a few centuries ago. It involved Thor being his usual idiot self and losing his hammer, some stupid giants, and cross-dressing. But still. "You're... hurting... me. Stomach still... injured," Loki gasped, his face red.

Elsa let him go. "Sorry! But, if you're so good at magic, why haven't you fixed that yet? And how did you end up outside my castle in the first place?"

Loki winced. "Let's just say that someone wanted the use of my services, and thought using physical force could get me to use it." He could hear their beastial cackling in his ears; he could hear their raw delight in bashing his body while keeping him blindfolded. He hadn't known where the next blow would come from. He shuddered.

"Why didn't you use your magic to get away?" she asked.

Loki gave her a fixed look. "Magic binders. They aren't pleasant, let me tell you."

"Do many people have them?"

"Of course not." He watched her bite her lip. "Oh, for heaven's sake, they aren't here. I came here to get away from them, and in the unlikely event they do show up, I'll have a surprise or two waiting for them. How do you think I got away in the first place?"

"Right, sorry."

"Don't be. Information is power. Tell me then, Elsa, where are we?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know? Who's the powerful one now?"

"Still me. I could force the truth from your throat, but in light of our civility, I thought I'd try diplomacy. Would you like me to ask again?"

Elsa swallowed. "You're in Arendelle, on Earth."

Loki scowled, though he'd already known she was a mortal and he had to be on Earth. Where Thor had been banished and fell in love with a foolish mortal woman, and then acted in a completely unpredictable manner when compared with the last hundred years. Which ended up with Loki falling into the Void and the hands of the Chitauri. It had completely blindsided him. Thor was always destroying his brilliant ideas, smashing through them with his idiocy and arrogance like Mjolner through frost giants.

"Are you alright?" Elsa asked.

"Perfect." He stumbled in his next step, and Elsa laughed. "Let me rephrase that. When I get food and my magic finishes sewing me up, then I'll be perfect."

"By perfect, you mean you'll be scaring some other poor soul with another of your tricks?"

Loki flashed his white teeth at her. "Exactly."

**Considering I have another fan fiction that I should really be updating first, I may not give this story the attention it rightly deserves. Besides that, I always have to copy and paste the story, and then fix the stupid formatting which takes sooo much time. However, I'm pleased that I was able to write something with energy, because I haven't been able to do that in a while. If I decide not to continue, I'll put it up for adoption and let another writer know where I was planning to take the plot. My goal with this was to keep Loki and Elsa as much in character as possible, which was a bit difficult with Elsa because she changes from being super uptight to super free to super concerned for Anna. How do you think I did?**


	2. The Blond

Frigga looked up at the galaxies of stars. Each white speckle standing out from the dark violet and blue hues of the night stirred up feelings of wonder and awe. Tonight, she searched them for more than their beauty. Loki had passed on from this life. From Thor's account, his last moments had been colored by fear and feelings of worthlessness as he dropped into the Void. One of the stars could be her son; she wanted it to be so. Loki saw the heavens as she did, always full of mystery and wonder. Her mind told her Loki had gone to Valhalla or Hel, but she had the feeling Loki didn't belong in either place, because he had never been the average Asgardian. Feasting on mead and meat for all of eternity would frustrate Loki to no end; he'd be happier in Hel than Valhalla, if only to exercise his mind. Yet the thought of his body being stung by the torments of Hel, slashed and bruised, was something no mother could wish upon her child.

Loki should be a star in the heavens, free to think and be and gaze upon the realms forever. He should be able to add to the beauty of the skies, to remind gods and mortals alike that in the absence of the sun, there was still brightness in the realms.

She slid to her knees, and the grass pressed against her. Her garden flowers, so vibrant in the daytime, had their reds and yellows muted in the evening to purple and cream. She touched the rubbery edge of one flower, and brought her other hand up to cup her mouth as she started to cry.

Odin found her in such a state. He reached out a chivalrous, weathered hand to her, and pulled her to her feet. She leaned in against him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. They gazed into the galaxies as one. For his all-seeing powers, he'd never been able to keep an eye on that mischievous younger son of his.

Elsa stood in the center of the room while Loki paced around her, not for the first time. He seemed to have a habit of doing so. Was it because he liked the feeling of power, or because he like to see things from every angle?

"What are we practicing today? You're still going to help me get a grip on my powers, aren't you?" she asked.

"Make something," he demanded. Elsa nodded and swept her hand out in front of her. A large statue of a pegasus formed, wings open and gleaming in the light.

"Can you make that out of wood?" Loki asked.

Elsa frowned. "Why should I be able to make something out of wood?"

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Try it."

Elsa pictured a wooden rocking chair, and threw out a hand. Nothing happened. Loki chuckled.

"What?" Elsa demanded. "I've never tried working with wood before."

"Try fire," Loki said. Elsa tried again, but instead a large icicle spread out of her fingertips.

"It's useless," she said. "No one can use so many elements."

"Oh, really?" Loki said. He grinned, and though out a hand. A large tree broke through her ice floor and began to rise before them. Flexing his hand, the tree froze in a layer of ice, and when Loki blew on his fingers, he incinerated the whole tree in a ball of fire. "You were saying?"

"How?" Elsa asked.

Loki shrugged. "Practice and magical aptitude. My mother said I was born with more magic in my body than any creature had in the last millennium."

Elsa shot him a jealous grin.

"Oh, you want some of this? Please tell me again how you failed to control your one element."

"Shut up." She shot a spray of ice at him, which he deflected. "Insufferable man."

"Insufferable god," Loki corrected. "Try wind."

"How do I make something out of wind? I can't see it."

"You feel it. Where as the physical elements are pushing outward, wind pushes inward."

If that wasn't the most cryptic thing Elsa had ever heard. 'Feel' it? "I don't have much practice in feeling."

"That's obvious to anyone with eyes. Try it, or you'll bore me so much I'll leave."

Elsa sighed, and closed her eyes. Her gut cringed inward. She hated being put on the spot like this; she liked things to be neat and planned. Elsa started to grow frustrated, and her eyebrows lowered in anger. Her teeth grit against each other, and she started to feel the air whirling around her. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the air stirred in a spiraling pattern around her, her clothes and hair rippling in the wind.

Loki clapped his hands, and the wind fell away. "Slight aptitude for wind, as you can see."

Elsa crossed her arms. "It's nothing like what you did."

"Magic prodigy, remember?"

"Why do you call yourself a god?" Elsa asked. "Because of your magic?"

"Hardly," Loki scoffed. "I've lived for centuries. Have you never heard of the gods of Asgard?"

"No." Elsa had read all the books in the library, in the dark hours of the night when no one would find her.

"The mortals west of here know us well, even if we are only myth to them."

"Where is Asgard?" Elsa asked.

Loki grinned. "On another planet, far from here."

"And gods like you live there? Do you come from heaven?" Which, she highly doubted. The smirking man before her was more likely to be a devil than an angel.

"We can die- it's just extremely hard to do. Asgard has its own heaven. It would be unbearable if we had to put up with a bunch of mewling mortals up there as well. The other Asgardians are idiots enough as it is," Loki said. Heaven forbid the headache that would follow were that the case. Elsa shot him a look at calling her race 'mewling mortals'.

Loki avoided her further questions and expounded on her growing wind techniques. "The more magic you have, the more often you must use it," he said.

"How do you make illusions?" she asked.

"It's more difficult than you can manage. Don't worry your pretty head about it."

Elsa was about to try another whirlwind when she saw a figure scrambling up through the snow. Elsa stared out the window. It was that man who had come with Anna, riding his reindeer through the snow.

Her heart froze. He could be here to avenge Anna.

And rightly so.

Elsa through open the doors and started through the snow. Loki traipsed behind her.

"Elsa!" the man yelled, stopping short of the bridge that crossed the chasm of the ravine. Elsa had fixed the bridge yesterday when she and Loki had gone out.

Elsa darted down the stairs. "What is it? How is Anna?"

His eyebrows creased, and he rung his hat between his hands. "She's been in a coma the last two days. An act of true love was supposed to bring her back, but Hans couldn't do anything for her. If this keeps up much longer, she'll die. Please, you have to save her. I'll do anything!"

Elsa bit her lip, relieved that her sister was still alive. She turned to Loki as she answered the boy. "I don't know how."

Loki gave a long-suffering sigh. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. Field trip!"

The blond man glared at Loki. "This is serious."

"I'm seriously excited."

"Don't mind him," Elsa said, conjuring a large ice sled and several reindeer made of snow. "He's with me, and he can help Anna. Get on." Loki, Elsa, the blond, and his reindeer piled onto the sled, and Elsa started them off.

To Loki's unhappiness, he found himself next to the blond. "I'm Kristoff, by the way," the blond said.

"Loki."

Kristoff gave a nod of acknowledgement and turned to Elsa. "Why are you coming back now? I mean, not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but you pretty much ran us off your land last time."

"I never meant to hurt Anna. This is all my fault. I couldn't control myself, and now I can. He's been teaching me."

Kristoff squinted at Loki. "Doesn't seem like the teaching type."

"We have a deal," Loki said, fixing the blond with an icy stare. "I'm pretty sure not associating with blond idiots was one of the conditions of our agreement."

"Hey, you wanna fight?" He glared back at Loki, and his reindeer put up two hooves like a boxer would.

"Try it and I'll turn you into a newt," Loki threatened. The reindeer and its master stood down, uncertain which one of them he was referring to.

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Elsa muttered under her breath.

"What?" Loki asked.

"Nothing," she said.

Loki would have retorted, but they curved sharply around a tree and he grasped the side of the sled for dear life. To his horror, he found his other hand curled into the shirt of the blond idiot.

"Hello to you, too," Kristoff smirked. The grin slipped off his face when he saw the chasm Elsa was about to jump off. Kristoff and his reindeer clung to one other with an 'eep!'

"You were saying?" Loki snickered.

Elsa bridged the chasm and drove the sled on. Anna was waiting.

**Thus we meet Kristoff. I love Elsa's and Loki's conversations, but Kristoff adds a new element to play with, and I totally love it. Next chapter: Hans flips his cool. :P Also, I revised chapter one and I may revise this chapter. I've realized that when I write a first draft, I typically rely on dialogue to mostly tell the story, hence the need for revision.**


	3. The Trash

Elsa pulled the sled to a stop in front of the gate. "I am Queen Elsa, and I'm here to save my sister! Let me in." The group exited the sled.

A man's voice answered her from the other side. "Sorry, on orders from Prince Hans, Princess Anna's fiance, you aren't allowed into Arendelle."

"Wait, wait, wait," Loki said, turning to Elsa. "You're a queen?"

Elsa frowned. "Didn't I tell you that?"

"You said, and I quote, 'my sister and I had an argument during the dance and I accidently shot ice towards her. Then I ran away and built an ice castle,' et cetera, et cetera. At no time did you say it was your dance or that you were royalty." The gears in Loki's head started to turn. How likely was it that the first person he'd run into would happen to be the ruling power in need of his help? This mutual ally-ship could be more beneficial than previously thought.

"Hello?" Kristoff interrupted. "Anna. Dying. Can we cut to the chase?"

Elsa turned back to the door. "Who are you listening to, Hans or your queen?"

"I'll need his permission. I'll have to send a messenger. Wait here," the guard said.

"Elsa, would you be a dear and freeze the crack between the doors?" Loki said. "Right." Elsa's magic responded. Loki grinned. He blew fire into his hands until he had a large fireball in his hands and then threw it at the gate.

The gate blasted open; Elsa and Loki stalked into the city. Kristoff and his deer were just behind them. "I do enjoy a dramatic entrance," Loki smirked. Unlike a certain blond, he knew when to make an appearance and when to take the backstreets.

They marched up to the palace, and the palace guards barred the doors from them. Prince Hans stepped outside of the palace and closed the doors behind him. "Elsa, why have you come here? Isn't it enough that your sister, my beloved, is slowly dying? Leave, before you hurt anyone else. It's for your own protection as much as theirs." A crowd had started to gather.

"I've learned how to control my magic. I swear to use it to protect my people, and I've brought a healer to cure Anna. Let me in," Elsa said. Loki watched the both of them, particularly Hans. He could see the rising fear in Hans's eyes, the tightening of his muscles. Interesting that the prospect of healing his 'beloved' would create such an emotion.

Hans waved a hand to the guards, dismissing them. "You abandoned your people when they needed you. Until Anna's recovery, we'll keep our eyes on you. Oh, and no pets allowed inside the castle," he told Kristoff.

"But he's... my seeing eye... reindeer," Kristoff said.

Hans and Loki gave him mirroring are-you-serious looks. "Are you two twins or something?" Kristoff asked.

Hans and Loki turned to look at each other, disgusted. "Hardly," Hans said.

"That's an insult to my mother," Loki said.

Kristoff sighed. "I'll wait here with Sven. Just go get Anna."

Hans opened the palace doors and lead the group in. "Follow me." He lead them down the hall and into a room. "Please, sit." There was a table in the corner and cushioned seats lining the room, and another door at the opposite wall. "I'll make sure Anna's condition is stable and tell you when she can see you."

"We need to see Anna now," Elsa commanded.

"I understand, Elsa. I want more than anyone to see her get better. But we have to make sure we don't shock her system. We need to make sure she can withstand the healing," Hans said. "I'll send for a doctor and wait with her. Once he's checked her, we'll commence with the healing." Loki fought to keep from laughing. The mortal thought he could fool them? Not while Loki was around.

"I assure you, the healing will be most gentle. She won't even know we're there."

"I have to disagree-"

"You want her to die so you can blame it on us," Loki said.

"Of course not!"

"Then what's inside the inner pocket of that vest of yours?" Loki asked. "Take it off and let's see."

"I don't see what my vest has anything to do with-"

"Fine," Loki snapped, "Then get out of my way." He stalked towards Hans.

"Stay back!" Hans threw the table at Loki. "I'm not going to let you in!"

Loki threw a hand up and tossed the table to the side with his magic. "I won't let a fool like you stand in my way. Did you think you were clever, masquerading as Anna's lover and controlling the city? Could you feel the fire burning through your veins as your jealous greed was satisfied? No, it still wasn't enough, and then you were afraid to have what you had so carefully worked for be snatched away in a single moment. Don't think for a moment you fool me. I can read your innermost thoughts and feelings. I can see you tremble, I can see the sweat break out from your face, and I see a scared little _child_ fearing for his life."

Hans screamed and flew at Loki. He pulled his arm back for a punch, but Loki swung a leg at Hans and kicked him to the side. Loki shot ice at Hans and pinned his arm to the wall. Hans growled and tried to pry his arm free. Hans screamed again and kicked at the table, spit foaming at the mouth.

Loki stepped back and smoothed his hair back. He was very nearly on the verge of losing control of himself. "Elsa, finish restraining him."

"Gladly." She struck his feet with ice and bound his arms to the wall. She walked up to Hans until she was inches away from his face. She ripped open his vest and snatched a poison vial out of the pocket. Her fingers clutched the vial so tightly it broke and spilt to the floor. She glared into Hans. "Don't you _ever_ touch my sister again."

She froze his mouth closed and turned away. Loki walked up to Hans and grabbed his chin so Hans was forced to look at him. "Oh, Hans," Loki said, "if only there was someone who loved you."

Elsa opened the door to Anna's room. She walked over to her sister's ashen face, and her heart squeezed. Anna's eyes were closed as if already dead. Anna's breaths were short and quick. Elsa turned her eyes to Loki, who had entered just behind her. "Can you help her?" she whispered.

Loki held a hand over Anna's heart, and rubbed a thumb across the cold skin of her cheek. "Give me your magic," he said.

"How?"

"You must give me your trust." Loki turned to Elsa and placed one hand on her hip. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Elsa was surprised at how cold his lips were, so cold they seemed to burn. She pushed herself into him, and then pulled away. Loki took her hands into his, and placed one on Anna's forehead, and one above her heart. He warmed a small fire in Elsa's hand, and then they pushed it into Anna's heart.

"I was once known as the God of Fire," he murmured.

Anna gasped and her eyes flew open. Loki pulled off the hand on Anna's heart but kept the one on her head in place. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Who are- Elsa! What's going on? When did you get here?" Anna asked, sitting up. Loki dropped his hand and stepped back.

"Oh, Anna, I'm so glad you're okay!" Elsa gave her sister a squeezing hug.

"How did that happen?" Anna asked.

"I was in my ice castle, and I found this guy passed out not far from it. Turns out he can use magic! He taught me how to control it and he healed you," Elsa said.

"Wow!" Anna turned to Loki. "Thanks! What happened to Hans? He told me he his love was all a lie."

Elsa's face darkened. "He's just outside the room. Lucky we caught him in time. He was going to poison you and blame us."

Anna struggled to remove the blankets. "Help me up," she said.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Elsa asked, pulling her sister into a standing position.

"She should be fine," Loki said.

"I feel great," Anna said, stepping away from Elsa. "Let's go take out the trash."

Anna kicked open the door into the other room, and Hans flinched. Anna threw her boot and hit Hans in the head. Anna stalked over to him and put her boot back on. She slapped Hans, hard. "I can't believe I sang a duet with you."

Anna turned away and stalked into the hallway. Elsa smiled at the red handprint on Hans's face. She released him from all her ice holdings, and gave him such a powerful punch that he collapsed to the ground. She glared at his unconscious body. "The slap counts. You were not to touch my sister."

Loki smirked. The sisters were quite the team. He shut the door behind him and locked Hans inside, and then caught up with the two.

They let Kristoff and his reindeer inside the palace, who were overjoyed to see Anna alive and healthy. "How exactly did you magic her back?" Kristoff asked.

Loki smiled; Elsa pinked. "I... I had to transfer my magic to him... through our lips," Elsa said. Kristoff's eyebrows rose, and Anna's mouth fell open.

"You _what_?" Anna asked.

"I had to! It was the only way to save you."

"Actually," Loki said, wiggling his eyebrows, "you didn't have to kiss me, you only had to trust me. How do you think two sorcerers of the same gender transfer their powers?"

Elsa stared. "I'm going to kill him."

"Actually, that was a lie, too. Sorcerers never fully trust one another. Consider that today's lesson, Elsa. I'm such a good teacher."

"Loki!" Elsa growled, running forward.

Loki backpedaled, still smiling, and then disappeared into thin air. "See you tomorrow, Elsa!"

**So, that was a lot of fun to write! Hans didn't flip out the way I originally thought he would, but he did flip table. Super fun. (╯OnO）╯︵ ┻━┻ **

**Also, that was the first kissing scene that I've ever written; it was really nerve-wracking and I have no idea what I'm gonna do now. It wasn't even supposed to happen. I had my idea of what this chapter was, and then Loki came in and was like, 'YOLO.' I finally understand what my friends mean when they say their characters run off and do things without their permission. What did I ever do to you, Loki? **

**This isn't the happy ending, but a strange beginning. The story will probably be a one-shot; we'll see. At this point, I really have no idea, and I'm not committing myself to anything longer than 15,000 words yet.**


	4. The Spoon

Hans sat in the ship's prison. The wooden stool he sat upon was hard and unfriendly. When a particularly strong wave rocked the ship, he would slam into a wall. It would be several hours before they reached the port of the Southern Isles. He dropped his head into his hands. How could everything have gone so wrong?

The boat suddenly leaned to the right and Hans slammed into a wall. He groaned and righted himself.

Men started screaming; swords clang against each other. Hans sprang forward and gripped the bars of his cell, but the door was closed beyond it and he couldn't see anything. After a few more minutes, the ship became quiet. Then the door slammed open.

"Aah!" Hans jumped and pressed himself to the back of the wall and into the corner, wishing that there was some way he could escape unseen. Before him was a large, blue-skinned creature armed with some kind of weapon and sharp teeth.

"Hello, Hans of the Southern Isles," the creature said, stepping forward.

"H-How do you know my name?" he squeaked.

"We have a business opportunity for you."

Hans perked up and leaned forward, resting an elbow on his knee. "Do you now?" His trip might be shorter than he thought.

"Good morning, beautiful." Loki materialized out of thin air next to the breakfast table and popping a grape into his mouth.

"Get out of my castle," Elsa snapped.

"Hm, I do recall hearing those same words a few days ago from a girl in bad need of my help. What was it she said after that? Oh, yes. 'I'll do anything,' was it?" Loki asked.

He found a spoon shoved threateningly underneath his nose. Anna, on the opposite end of the spoon, glared up at him. "You better treat my sister nicely. She's the queen, and she's my sister. What happened to Hans is nothing compared to what I can do with this spoon."

Loki held up his hands in a placating manner. He could threaten to turn her into a newt, but he'd already used that one. "Of course. I'll be on my best behavior." He gave her a charming smile.

The spoon was removed. Anna sat back down at the table. "Ew, I've got alien germs on my spoon. I can't use it now. Elsa, do you have an extra spoon?"

Elsa sighed and passed one over.

"So, Loki, what are you teaching us today?" Anna asked, and shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

Loki had a feeling he knew who had received the manners in their family. "Us?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. I just got my sister back. You don't really think I'm going to be letting her out of my sight, do you?"

"What magic do you know?" he scoffed. Loki could sense magic and the younger girl had not a drop in her.

"I know the magic of this silver spoon," she threatened.

"I'm terrified."

"You ought to be."

Loki cleared his throat. "I was going to actually have her help me, for once."

"Who found whom unconscious in the snow?" Elsa muttered.

Loki pressed on. "We'll be scrying today. It's an advanced technique. You'll be using your magic to heighten my power and get a feel for how it works, and we'll be looking in on a few people of interest."

"Ooh, is that like magical eavesdropping?" Anna asked, eyes shining. "Yeah, this is gonna be so much fun!"

"This is so boring," Anna rolled over onto her stomach.

Loki's eyebrow twitched. Elsa's eyebrow twitched.

They had been sitting in Elsa's royal bedroom for the last half an hour trying to establish a contact with Yggdrasil, what Loki called the world tree.

"It would take but a moment if someone had the patience to _be quiet_," Loki hissed. "Have you the attention span of an infant?"

"It's boring! I've just been back from being half-dead and I've got a lot of pent up energy. Can't you try something a little more interesting?" Anna asked.

"And you're about to become half-dead again," Loki grumbled.

Elsa elbowed him sharply. "Anna, why don't you grab a book to read?"

"Oh, yeah, okay." She got up from off the floor and turned to look at Elsa's book case.

Loki and Elsa closed their eyes and breathed in as one. Then, they caught a branch of Yggdrasil. It was a pulsing, golden color in the blackness of their minds. Loki pulled Elsa to it, and they moved along the golden beam. It wasn't a literal branch, but a golden pipe that ran parallel to the ground in infinite pathways. They rode Yggdrasil until they came upon a towering city unlike anything Elsa had ever seen before.

Loki pulled them inside the city and to the palace. They roamed its halls for a moment until Loki took them into a golden bedroom. There was a large window to one side. In front of an easel, an older woman with golden curls and a crown atop her head sat painting. She was painting a nebula with bright blues and purples against a dark background, and her shoulders slumped. The woman put her painting set down and dropped her head into her hand. She didn't cry; she just sighed and sat still. Eventually, she picked up her brush and got to work again, looking more determined to finish.

Loki moved them to another room; a group of men sat around a table. "The reparations to the bifrost must begin at once," a gray-haired man with an eyepatch said.

"The dwarves refuse to oversee the project; they wouldn't be able to build such a thing anyways," another man said. "No one knows how its magic was built."

The man with the eyepatch sighed. "Scour the libraries of the realms. Asgard's library had no such books, but another realm may. Now, the summer festival will be hosting the dignitaries of Alfheim; we need a change to the banquets..."

Loki took them to a sparring field. A few people sat or stood around watching the two fighters and cheering. One was a broad, muscled blonde with a hammer, and the other fighter was a massive, red-headed giant with a sword. The blond sent the red-head sprawling onto the ground, and the spectators cheered. The blond raised his hammer in victory, then set it down to help the red-head up.

"A fine fight, Volgstaff," the blond said.

"Aye, Thor."

Elsa felt anger pulsing from Loki. Loki pulled them from the scene and back to Yggdrasil. They followed it's golden beam once more. When Loki moved to drop from Yggdrasil, a black tendril curled around him and Elsa.

"No," she felt Loki whisper.

They were pulled to a dark rock, and a fanged, blue creature stood waiting for them. "The lost prince," it hissed, "finally found. Did you think you could escape His wrath? You cannot hide. When He comes, you will fall to your knees and beg for mercy. He will bleed you in every way you feel pain, cause you to become undone, and as you tremble upon the ground He will taunt you with death's embrace. You cannot flee Him. Say your goodbyes, Asgardian. Death is coming for you."

Elsa expected some sarcastic comment, something like, "I didn't know your mother taught you enough words to speak so eloquently," or "Did you come up with that one on your own? How original." But Loki was silent.

"You are nothing before Him," the creature said. "Taste the first drops of His wrath." The creature stretched an arm forward and pressed its claws to Loki's face.

"Stop," Loki gasped, starting to tremble. Elsa could feel the pain radiating off Loki in waves.

The creature sneered, and with another push, he sent Loki to his knees. "He will rip you limb from limb, He will make you bleed from every pore, He will-"

"-lock you into a cave and make you pet bunnies for all eternity if you don't get up this instant," Anna's voice said. "Ugh, this is so lame. I'm going to have Kristoff find me a cave- Kristoff! Oh my gosh, I forgot! Bye, I've got to show Kristoff the new sled I got him!" Anna slammed the door shut, and Elsa was able to open her eyes.

She was back in her bedroom. Anna had broken their trance with her rambling, and now she was gone.

Loki came to his senses by falling forward and gasping for breath. His muscles twitched and shuddered from his contact with the Other. He tried to make his body obey him, but his nerves wouldn't stop screaming at him. It had been all he could do to keep back his tears from the Other. He wouldn't cry before his enemy.

"Loki!" Elsa ran to his side and placed a hand on his back. "Are you okay? What happened to you? What was that thing?"

"Leave me," he said.

"But you've been hurt," Elsa said. "I can-"

"Leave!" Loki roared, and his instinctive magic threw Elsa into a wall. She let out a grunt of pain when she hit the wall and fell to the ground.

She pulled herself to her feet and closed her hands around her elbows. "Fine," she said. "I'll go."

The door closed solidly behind her and left Loki to become a puddle of shame on her floor. He should never have been born.

**I think the chapters have been getting shorter, which is kind of annoying. I'll see if the next one will be longer, guys. I'm debating if I want to bring the Avengers into this. I think they'd add a great dynamic to the story, but they might take it over and I wouldn't want that. Also, I've been ignoring the whole Arendelle-wouldn't-exist-at-the-same-time-as-New-York thing, and I'm perfectly happy to continue doing so. Maybe I'll add a 'what-if' scene at the end, though, because the scene I thought of is pretty amusing.**

**Don't mess with Anna, people. She knows the magic of the silver spoon.**


End file.
